1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, systems, and products for dynamically indicating email capabilities.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior art email allows mail messages to be exchanged between users of computers around the world and out of the world, to space shuttles and the International Space Station. Internet email in particular provides a standard communications mechanism for millions of computers connected to the Internet.
In the early days of email, email messages were very limited in features. They were restricted to ASCII characters; they had maximum line lengths and maximum message lengths. Modern email messages, however, support digital objects comprising audio, video, and graphic images. The modern email standard for the Internet, initiated in 1992, is called ‘MIME,’ an acronym for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. MIME allows mail messages to contain multiple digital objects in a single message, text having unlimited line length or overall length, character sets other than ASCII (allowing non-English language messages), multi-font messages, and binary or application specific files. Digital objects supported in MIME messages include graphic images, audio, video and multi-media messages.
Email messages are delivered to email clients, software application programs capable of connecting to the Internet through mail servers and downloading email messages from electronic mailboxes maintained in email servers. Examples of email clients are Microsoft's well-known email applications called Outlook™ and Outlook Express™.
In current art, email is delivered from email servers to email clients on personal computers. Email clients are often implemented on PDAs, network-enabled cellular telephones, and other devices in the general category of ‘personal computer,’ although, nevertheless, the emails are directed from email servers to email clients on some kind of personal computer. Personal computers are optimized for text display; this is true despite the fact that email clients in some personal computers today are capable of displaying video, graphic images, and audio, because personal computer are just not very good at displaying video, graphic images and audio. Television sets and video monitors are good at displaying video. High fidelity stereo and quadraphonic sound systems are good at displaying audio. High resolution digital art frames are good at displaying graphic images. In current art, however, there is no way to email a digital image to a digital art frame, no way to email a video clip to a television, no way to email a musical performance to a sound system, although it would be beneficial if there were. Moreover, despite the fact that destination email domains may support many, many client devices, display devices, and display capabilities for digital objects and files included in email, there is no convenient, dynamic way in current art to know the display capabilities available in an email destination, although it would be beneficial if there were.